Monday, September 28, 2009

Post 13: Chris Rock

Okay this will be a short blog (I think) but I HAVE to get it off my chest. So I was having a conversation with someone recently, and won’t mention names (even though I am VERY tempted so that people will look them up and give them a hard time… then again people probably don’t care about my blog that much anyways haha). So we were watching Comedy Central and watching some random comedian (who happened to be black) and the conversation came up about whom some of our favorite comedians were. I mentioned Bill Cosby and Chris Rock (I have always found them funny), and sure enough this opened the door to the lovely conversation that was bound to come up with this particular. You know the one I am talking about most likely… because this is not the first time it has come up in my presence:
It’s the whole sketch of when Chris Rock says that there are two types of black people: there are black people and there are niggers, and how the nigger have “got to go”. And this person actually USES this to their advantage of racism! They claim that if he, a black person, can say it why can’t they? Not only that but they agree with everything Chris Rock says and start talking about stories of poor black people living around them that do things like this and blah blah blah. They make no reservation what-so-ever in holding in their opinion because of their stereotypes of African Americans.

How God damn ignorant could someone be?!?! Isn’t this type of shameless fucking ignorance and hateful discontent the kind that should have belonged back in the Civil War??? I just don’t understand how something like this could still be around…

And I don’t know how I should feel about Chris Rock. Is he doing his race a service by talking like that? It’s almost like he is trying to spread the racism around and place it on certain types of his own race… like there is a Civil War within his own culture (his comment about him wanting to joining the KKK so he could do a drive by from here to Brooklyn comes to mind). It’s disconcerting to think that instead of banding together to FIGHT the problems they face as a culture and community there are people waging war within the ranks, so-to-speak, causing what I think could be a greater problem. This reminds me of Malcolm X a little from the chapter we recently read in West’s book Race Matters… would he commend Chris Rock on pointing out the deviants of their race or would he bring Chris down saying that his anger is targeted in the wrong place. Considering that Malcolm made a distinction between “house negroes” and “field negroes” I am thinking he would actually agree with Rock’s ideas… but that may be a wild idea and I have begun to start rambling.

I don’t know… it just makes me sick (my friends opinions mainly). So in light of that nausea in my stomach AND I needed a topic to talk about in my Blog I figured why not put two and two together and make a counseling session out of my homework. Sorry everyone! haha

3 comments:

  1. It's fine to feel this way. Except Chris Rock isn't attacking his race, he is attacking the stereotype and the people who perpetuate the stereotype. Because stereotypes come about for a reason, someone did these things. I like watermelon and fried chicken... I'm black, but just because I like these things doesn't make me black. In the same way, there are black people that steal shit from their neighbors, but not all black people do these things. So what Chris Rock is saying is that these dumb people need to stop making the black race look bad. They need to step up and be better people. Which can be said for both races. There is a black man who has two jobs and working his ass off, and another black man (a "Nigger") claims he can't get one. He's not saying that he hates African Americans, just the way they are being portrayed.

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  2. You mention the idea of a "Civil War" within his own race (referring to Chris Rock). That's an interesting thought because these sorts of things come up not just in the class room, I've heard debates about it on the radio and seen them on TV. It seems that everyone has a polarized opinion on what is 'politically correct' and if its harmful to use such language, even if you're a black person. I guess it's a complicated situation and I don't really understand it myself but, yes, it does often seem to be like a Civil War... just minus the states succeeding (but possibly still including the people shooting at one another).

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  3. Exactly Megan. I agree. Just because "A" is true and so is "B" doesn't make them always connected. It is not Chris Rock's job to deal with racism or stereotypes or whatever. He doesn't have to be responsible if he doesn't feel like it. His perspective is that yes, some black people are real life examples of stereotypes. There are single, black moms who manipulate the welfare system. But the point is just because they are single, black mothers doesn't mean they are going to. If that makes sense.

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